I'm learning the ropes. I took my mask off. That's a good start. If I can just put it in my pocket. I want to welcome those who are with us via Zoom today. Our great joy and comfort is that the Lord is always with his people, whether they're gathered together as we are here in this room, some of us, or individually across many areas. He's not limited by space or time as we are. And so when we hear God's word together as God's people, it's for all of us. It's for all of our benefits. It's for all of our healing, as David has said. So, if you would please stand for the reading of God's Word. Today's passage will be much shorter than usual, and I'll explain from there what we'll be looking at today. Let me pray for our time. Our Heavenly Father, as we heard already in our worship service, Your Word has amazing power. and your word is an amazing gift. We ask that both those things would be driven home to us as we consider your word this morning. We pray all this in Jesus name. Amen. John 20, verses 30 to 31. Now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in his name. Amen. Please be seated. Last week, I started out our journey through the Book of John. And the Book of John is like a good friend in terms of spending time with it or with him, that you go through it over and over again. And as you do so, things you already knew become more expanded. And then there's new things that kind of jump off the page. As I said last week, I've read the book of John for about 40 some years. Well, I've read it almost every day for my whole life almost, but 40 some years. And I'm like, I never saw that before. You know, this past week, things started jumping off the page because there's so much depth to the words that are there. They're all tied to other scriptures. And so there's new insights and new connections that you start to see, just like you would with any friend. This was driven home to me last week. I spent time with a friend in this room and his wife. And I know many of you. I've known many of you for a long time and others a short period of time. And yet, when I spent time with them, it was just a sweet experience. There were things that I could go back to that we experienced in the past, 46 years ago, this December. I knew his father, I knew his mother, I knew his brother. I don't get to see them very often. I don't even get to see my friend that often. But as we spent time together, we kind of exchanged things, and there were self-disclosures. He shared what had been going on with him, and I shared what was going on with me. And we have these time markers throughout our history. Because I would go to his house, and I would see his father and mother there in Beltsville. I would be afraid of his dog Kip, who was a Doberman Pinscher. I would interact with his brother, who was into motorcycles. And yet over 46 years, things have happened. Things have changed. Some have remained the same. And so when we got together, there was the remembrance of the past, but then there were new things. There was new self-disclosures. And when we read the book of John, it's exactly the same way. Or when we read the scriptures in any other passage, it's very similar. That what we have here is this glorious self-disclosure of God. I know we see many things in the scriptures. We see laws, we see judgments as we talked about earlier. But over the last year or so, I read through the Bible really sadly to say for the first time in a very focused way. And at times I was very, very sad. I thought, wow, God is incredibly good. He was so incredibly kind to Adam and Eve in the place He gave them to live. He gave them everything they needed, and then they sinned. Or He set His love upon Abraham and his lineage, and He did so many wonderful and glorious things for them. And then it ends in horrible, horrible judgments of Exile for Israel and Judah. And I was just sad as I saw, wow, God is, he's so good. And I had to reflect on my own life. How do you, as David said, how do I respond to those things? Do I respond to God's goodness, which is incredible, which is infinite? Or do I continue to sin? And of course I do, I do continue to sin. But because God has done something, he sent his son, then there's hope and there's joy in the end. I still sin, I still have to confess sins, but Christ is still my Savior, and He still has a project He's working on, which is my sanctification, which is my being conformed to the image of His Son. So, as we look at John's Gospel, I want us to treasure this gift. The rest of the Scripture is a gift, too. That's what's so hard to talk about one book over another. It's all a treasure. It's all a self-disclosure, which we call special revelation, that we're looking at here. And as we do this, I wanna look at two things. I wanna look again, I wanna finish up what we talked about last week as far as John's history, that it's a historical gospel. And then I'm gonna touch on today that it's the gospel of life. Now, if you look at your title in your bulletin, it's incorrect, and that is on me. That's on me, and I hope to look at these things next week, the symptoms and signs. But if you look at the book of John this week, and you read about the signs that Jesus does that point to the fact that he is the Messiah, think about COVID. Think about the COVID signs. That's pretty relevant nowadays. A symptom is just like a sign. we'll look at that next week. But if you have the opportunity to read through the book of John this week is to think about the signs that Jesus does are like symptoms. They point to something greater. And in the case of John's Gospel it points to the fact that He is the promised Messiah that was promised all throughout Israel's history. And so first let's look at John's history. It's a historical Gospel. And we looked at why was it so important? What's so big about John's Gospel or John's words versus our words or anybody else's words? It's because he was an Israelite and he was privileged along with his people, with the oracles of God, with the Word of God, with what I've already tried to point out, the self-discovery, the true and living God that no one else in the nations had this privilege. And we looked at different passages that demonstrate this throughout God's word. And I wanna return to one because over this past week I saw kind of a proof text of this scripture, one of the scriptures I read last night. And we shouldn't be surprised as we read the word that there's these connections over and over and over again that reassure us of the unity of God's word and the truthfulness of God's word. So last week, I read from Deuteronomy 4, 5 to 8, Moses is talking to the people of Israel. And he says, see, I have taught you statutes and rules that the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding and the sight of the peoples, so that they would stand out because of this reason. that these people who when they hear of these statues will say, surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what great nation is there that has a God so near to it as the Lord our God is to us? whenever we call upon him, as we even said earlier in our worship service. And what great nation is there that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today? So Moses is saying, in the future, if you do these things, there's going to be a certain glory given to you, a certain prominence, all because of God. because God has disclosed himself to them with his infinite wisdom, this unique people group. And I use the illustration, if you think about this aisle here is the people of Israel and all the other seats, it's just illustration, I'm not saying you guys are ghosts. But the illustration that this is a people of Israel and they were given the truth from the true and living God, the oracles of God and the other nations were groping in darkness. And just as an aside, you might say, well, that seems unfair. It seems unfair. Why should they get it? Well, there is no reason that they should get it. That's the whole, what Scripture teaches us. There's nothing of themselves that they should have added. But we tend to forget that the fall forfeited everything. We sang about not having any hope. As soon as Adam sinned, There was no hope in and of himself. Everything had been forfeited. The question is, why didn't God just say, I'm done with you. I'm done with you. It's because he had an eternal purpose that he would accomplish through mankind to bring his son into the world. And so we have Israel here with these blessed promises, these blessed words, these blessed oracles of God, and all the other nations are groping. And so Moses tells him these things. Well, let's fast forward in history to the kingship of Solomon, the kingship of Solomon. And in 1 Kings, we hear about this woman, this queen of Sheba, and she's heard about this kingdom. She's heard from it from afar, but she goes to visit. And this is what 1 Kings 10, one to nine says. Now when the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions. She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind. We don't have any time frame there, but she told him all that was on her mind. And Solomon answered all her questions. There was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her. And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his officials, the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more breath in her. She was overwhelmed. She had heard these things, but now she saw them, and it was like, wow, wow. It goes on, it says, and she said to the king, the report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen them. And behold, the half was not told to me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard. Happy are your men, happy are your servants who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom. Blessed be the Lord your God who is delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel, because the Lord loved Israel forever. He made you king that you may execute justice and righteousness. that this glorious kingdom that Solomon had at that time, which was probably the height of his glory, was amazing. If you've ever been to a business or you've been to places that are well run, you say, wow, that's amazing. That's not what I usually see. She comes as a queen, she had her own kingdom, and she's wowed by Solomon's kingdom. She's wowed by it, it's just incredible, everything works. It's a well-run organization. And this is a fulfillment of what Moses said, that the glory of Solomon's kingdom was due to the fact that Solomon's God, at this point he was following his God, was the one who gave him all these things. He asked the Lord for wisdom and He did. And He gave him other things as well. And this picture of Solomon and those under him is a picture of the ultimate King that would come, the Lord Jesus. That we too are happy men and women and children. We too are happy servants who get to stand before Him At all times, under God's providence, but particularly in the Lord's day, we are just like them. Because he has set his love upon us. Many of us came from different places in life. Some of us grew up in Christian homes, some not. Maybe you're new to the faith. But he set his love upon us and drew him to himself. And so this glorious picture that we have of Solomon's kingdom is a picture of the kingdom that will eventually be ours by experience as we wait for the Lord to return. But the glory of this picture that the queen saw is all due to God, because in His grace, in His kindness, He gave his word to Abraham and his descendants, and they flourished, and they prospered, but they sinned. And so again, just to reflect as an application, do you realize that we are just like these people, but in a greater sense? We don't have a king like Solomon, who in some ways was incredibly wise, but not perfectly wise, like our Lord Jesus. We don't have a king who eventually was led astray by his foreign wives to idolatry, but we have a king who was obedient to the point of death on the cross, when tempted by Satan, did not give in, although he was in a super low condition for 40 days. who was bereft of his friends, who was mocked, and still kept worshiping the true God, even to the point of death on the cross and his dereliction when he took our wrath. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? It was not because of his sin. For he had no sin, the scripture assures us. But it was because of our sin. He was our substitution atonement. And so we have really great reason to rejoice. We continue to sin, we do sin, as David said, just like the people that we read about in the scriptures. And yet we have the same God who forgives his people, who would send the ultimate king, and who has come. and who has died, and who has risen from the dead, and who is at the right hand of the Father now, never to be subject to death again, never to be subject to any type of corruption. And so John's gospel is very important, because that's his history. And as the Israelites were privileged, their history had not just to do with them, but it had to do with all of mankind. It is true that the promises went through the line of Israel. But the glory that we read of much in the New Testament is that the Gentiles, the Gentiles would be included. Those who were far off would be included and drawn near. I don't know what it was like for you. I didn't know who Jesus Christ was until I was like 17 years old. I thought the most important people in the world were Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin and people that you see regularly on television. They must be important because they get the most press in the world. It's like no. Isn't it amazing? I could live my life and not even know the most significant human of all time. But God in his grace decided that I should hear the gospel. and I should have my darkness enlightened. But more than that, that he would do a change that I couldn't do and make me a new creature in Christ. So John's gospel is very important because it's relevant and it is binding to us even today. And it is Relevant and binding to all of mankind as well, even though they don't know it. Some of those who are of the elect don't even know it yet. And yet God's timetable is perfect. It's been 2,000 years since the Lord first appeared. But we can't go by our own judgments. We're warned by Peter. Don't judge by your own timetable. A thousand years and a day. It's all the same to the Lord. But the Lord still is bringing in His elect. There are still more to be brought into the kingdom and that is part of the message of the church is that there's more to come until the king comes again and then it's done. And so we need to pay attention to John's word and the rest of the scripture because it's all binding and it's all true. In the end, this is the word that will stand. It won't be the public opinion. It won't be our vain thoughts. It'll be every word ever uttered by God and his servants. And so when we come to the book of John, we have this great treasure, this great self-disclosure that's historical and absolutely true. It's interesting that even after the last prophet of the Old Testament, or at least there was a 400 year silence, but the promises were still in effect. And God's people over that time were still looking fulfillment of those promises. Now, when I talked with my friend this past week I knew his parents. I had talked to his parents before. I've talked to his sons. I've even talked to his grandmother. I spent time in her house up in Pittsburgh. But I never spoke to his grandmother's great, great, great grandmother. And I trust if the Lord tarries I will not speak to any grandchildren the Lord might grant them, or great-grandchildren. because my time will be up. And yet God has had this dialogue generation after generation after generation after generation, and for 400 years there's silence, but it was still in effect. The promises were still in effect, because God is God, and he's eternal, and he rules over all of history. And so we see this interesting situation that we may hear later next month about the birth of Christ in Luke 2. If you would, please turn with me to Luke 2, verse 22. Luke 2, verse 22. Talk about the longevity of a promise. Time had passed 400 years and there's people still waiting for the fulfillment of these promises. Luke 2, 22, and when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem, that is Jesus, to present him before the Lord. As it is written in the law of the Lord, every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord." Look, they're following God's prescription here just as it was given for Jesus. They're still obedient to what God has said in the past. It goes on, it says, now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. The consolation of Israel, they hadn't heard from the Lord in 400 years. It's because the promise was still true. The word of God is unalterable. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in the spirit up into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace. according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel." That this long ago promised reality was coming to fruition now. And you see it says there, a light for revelation to the Gentiles. We talked about in the past here, when I've been here, that the word of God is a light into our path and that Jesus is the light of the world. And this word that is being spoken here was old, but it was still in effect. And this promised one would not just be for the glory of Israel, but for the light of the nations, every tribe, every nation. And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. I can understand that. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for a sign that is opposed and a sword will pierce through your own soul also so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed. It must've been very hard for Mary to see her son crucified. I'm sure there's other implications as well, but do you see the promise did not wear out after 400 years? Every promise that God has ever made is firmly fixed because God has said it and God will do it. And I can't go into all the examples in scripture, but if you read through scripture, there's so many times it looked like, there's no way, it can't happen. And those people were humbled because God fulfilled his word exactly as he said it would be. A wonderful lesson I'm still learning. You know, it's, he never lies. Paul says in Titus, he never lies. And so when we look at the book of John, we have this great treasure of truth that reflects on Israel's history that John will show us throughout the gospel, fulfills Israel's history. So we might not miss the fact, not miss the reality. Here he is, here he is, this is him that all the scriptures pointed to. The prophet like Moses, The priests like Samuel, and the king like David, they all find their focus on him. And God has done it, God has done it. And so it's important for us to consider John's gospel in his introductory statement, his purpose statement, because everything he says is true, and everything he says is relevant and binding, even to us today. So there is the importance of the history. But then there's this other aspect that he talks about, and that's John's offer of life, that the gospel is a gospel of life. Now one of your dear brothers this past week had brought to my attention and others that today is an anniversary of a pretty amazing day, a sad day. And it's the death of John F. Kennedy, C.S. Lewis, and Aldous Huxley. All three of them died on November 22, 1963. And that day, I didn't know anything about C.S. Lewis or Aldous Huxley. All I knew was John F. Kennedy was president. I thought he was a handsome man. I was glad he won. I was a child, what can I say? But that was the second most significant day of my life. It's very vivid. I know where I was. I was in a sparsely furnished brand new house. I can remember watching a television, and this is going to be hard for the kids. It's called a black and white television. If you look at old pictures, you see there's not much color. It's just black and white and versions of gray. But I can remember sitting there or standing there watching this whole thing unfold, the assassination of President Kennedy. And my aunt was there, not my mom. My aunt was there ironing for my family. Because the most significant day of my life had been about a month earlier when my mom died when I was six years old. And I've shared this before. I had a two-year-old sister, a one-year-old sister, a five-month-old brother. And so it was a very sad time. Life had been great, rolling along, and then my mom died. And things really changed. And I saw my dad weep. I never saw my dad weep before, as he told me that my mom had died. And if that wasn't enough, then to watch the assassination of President Kennedy, and then two days later, the one accused of his assassination being shot, it's like, wow. It's a dark time. It's a heavy time. And President Kennedy's death and all the things that followed his funeral, I had ties to. I was not much different in age. I think Caroline Kennedy is a few months older than me. And my mom was buried at Arlington Cemetery. My dad had done some military service, and he was able at that time. I don't know if it's possible now. It's pretty tight restrictions about who can get buried at Arlington, which is a beautiful place. But my mom was buried there. And in a short time, I would watch film in black and white of the president being buried there. Arlington Cemetery at best was just a phrase, but now there was a real place in my mind. And whether we talk about my mom's death, or President Kennedy's death, or C.S. Lewis' death, or Aldous Huxley's death, we're talking about death. And this is where John's gospel is amazing. His goal is that we might have life. Now in some ways that could be an offensive, phrase. Somebody goes into the service and their commander says, I'm going to make a real man out of you. Or a woman, nowadays. I'm going to make a real man out of you. It's like, what do you mean? I am a man. I'm going to get you in shape. You're going to be ready for war. And so there might be an offense, it's like he says, he's promising life, John and his gospel's promising life. That we might have life in Jesus' name. I trust as we are here today, there was not a dead person listening to John when he penned this. And so you gotta think, what is he talking about? What do you mean life? This is pretty easy, death, life. And that's where John's gospel is so glorious as well. because his gospel is given to us to give us a life that doesn't just overcome those four deaths or the reality of death, but it gives us something more. It makes us anew, as John will say in John 3. It talks about being born from above, or born again. That this theme goes all through John's gospel. It's a very simple, there's a lot of themes and you can just trace them through. Or we see Lazarus, Lazarus is dead, it's all over. And he says, I am the resurrection and the life, he says to Martha. I am the resurrection and the life. I don't know what Martha would have been thinking. She was in the same frame that I was in when my mom died. But what happened to her that didn't happen to me is that in a few moments, Jesus would say, Lazarus, come out! And he came out. Who is this man who can command the dead to rise again? It's Jesus, it's the Messiah. And next week we'll look at the signs that were talked about, about the Messianic age, that Jesus just kept checking the boxes off. Just kept checking the boxes off. Somebody even in John's Gospel says, is anybody going to do more than he is? He must be the Christ. Look at all these signs he's done. Even John says he's done more in his purpose statement. And then at the end he says, if they were all written down it wouldn't matter. And John was the eyewitness of these things. He was there. He wasn't watching some cheap magician. He saw Jesus doing things that were unheard of. One who had command over demonic powers. One who had command over nature because he created it. One who had power over death because he would surely overcome it. And so that's what he promises us in this gospel is this life that's not just about physical life, but it's spiritual life. It's being made anew in the image of our creator. That the promised one of the Old Testament who would bear our sins that all the sacrificial system pointed to was coming. And it seems odd in some sense to me that you would put your purpose sentence at the back of your document, in my mind, to some degree. It seems a little different to me. But D.A. Carson makes the point that the most significant sign was the death and resurrection and ascension of Christ. that that was the most glorious sign that he did. That was the most significant sign that he did, that we even call the gospel. When Paul talks about the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15, he says, this is what it's all about, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures. And he rose again on the third day. That is the gist of it, but it stays the gist of it. It's always the center point, is the person and work of Christ. And we hear it in different versions or different ways all throughout the scripture, that the scripture all testifies to that. And so when John promises life and he gives us pictures even of his gospel of those who receive that life, with all the sorrow, with all the sadness, with all the deathness, Christ comes and he dies and he bears our penalty. And he earns eternal life. Yes, we will pass through death if the Lord tarries. Each one of us will. But if we're united to Christ, that will not be the end of the story. It will be like the thief on the cross when Jesus says, today you will be with me in paradise. As sad as the loss of a loved one is, we need to keep, we have to remind ourselves, for the believers, like they're in glory. They're beholding the Lord. They're in paradise with Him. And so these two things, the reality, the truthfulness of John's gospel, that is still biting today to this very moment, is ours in John's Gospel and in the rest of the Word of God. And the life-giving nature of this Gospel is still true, that anyone who would believe in Him, who would put their trust in Him as that sin-bearer, just like the serpent was lifted up, Christ has been lifted up on the cross and He's been lifted up to glory. that even now those who look to Him will receive life, the life that will surpass the physical death that we'll experience. And we'll be with Him forever with no more tears, no more sorrows, and as I said last week, no more masks. You know, I miss the glory of seeing faces for what they are and not that. There's something about God's good creation. And so as we come to John's Gospel, may God grant us the grace to take these things to heart, that we might be silent before Him as we read, not only the Gospel of John, but any part of Scripture. That we might give it its due attention, that we might not be distracted. You know, I have to pray for that myself. Because in this Gospel, this firm foundation were promised life, life everlasting. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We can say that there is no other word like it, and it is absolutely true, and yet, as we often say, there's not words enough to express the reality. And so we ask that by your spirit, that you would drive these things home to us. to our hearts, that we might know afresh, know anew, maybe for the first time, the truth of your word, the foundation that you've given us, and value your word. And that those of us who are united to Christ, who have life in Christ, might be built up in this life, might experience that new life even more so. And that those whom you've chosen before the foundation of the world might be brought into the kingdom. We pray all this in Jesus' name, amen.